- Compare and contrast the Loving Kindness exercise and the Subtle mind exercise. Explain your experience including the benefits, frustrations etc.
While I had a little bit of a difficult time with the loving kindness exercise, I found it beneficial so self reflect, especially at this point in my life. The subtle mind exercise was more difficult for me since I found the reflective time a bit long. I am also fighting a cold, so concentrating on my breathing is particularly difficult when you cannot breathe well LOL. From that and the congested feeling I have in my head, getting to the next level-deeper level of the mind was not easy. I do however, think that I will benefit much better at a time that I am feeling better so I am going to hold on to the exercise and try it again in the future.
2. Discuss the connection of the spiritual wellness to mental and physical wellness. Explain how the connection is manifested in your personal life.
The connection of our spiritual and mental wellness to our physical wellness is unbelievable and I think many people underestimate it. This can be easily visualized or experienced when you feel stressed or overwhelmed. Physical mannerisms and facial expressions change according to our mental wellness. Personally, I know my physical wellness changes according when my mental wellness is not in check. Living in Chicago (especially with the winter we've had) the weather greatly affects my mood and mentality, and unfortunately that mentality usually affects me physically. For example, on days that it is snowing a lot causing cloudy and gloomy skies, I physically have a hard time engaging and staying positive vs days that are sunny and warm.
I feel your pain. I use to live in Chicago and the winters were horrible between finding a parking spots, rush hour and not plowing there were not too many positive winter days lol. But then when summer came Montrose harbor and 31st St beach brought much happiness and winter was just a blur. Hang in there Spring is around the corner and happiness is on the way.
ReplyDeleteI guess it would be hard to do this exercise with a stuffed up head! I'm also not surprised about your comment on the weather affecting your mood. That happens to me sometimes too. Cloudy weather also tends to give me headaches and a general lack of energy. There's actually a term for that called Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD. Some things that can help with this are consistent exercise, a healthy diet, avoiding oversleeping, and managing stress can go a long way. For more severe cases, antidepressants, cognitive psychotherapy and treatment with bright lights may all help (Moore, 2010).
ReplyDeleteReference:
Moore, D. (2010). Dark, rainy days may affect your mood. Retrieved from http://www.psychpages.com/index.php/articleslayout/75-depression/163-dark-rainy-days-may-affect-your-mood-.html
I'm sorry to hear you are feeling bad. I agree that stress and weather can affect your mental status making you feel physically sick. I am always the same way in the winter. I call it the winter blues. Hopefully you will be feeling better soon and sunny skies are in your forecast. I'm sure it's hard to focus on breathing exercises when you can't breath from chest congestion. I suffer from insomnia and since I've started doing these exercises I can relax my mind enough to sleep. Interestingly, I have even been able to recall my dreams which I haven't been able to do in years. Maybe you will see some benefits soon!
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